


Well Adjusted

by LetoaSai



Series: StrifeHart Fluff [47]
Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Child jealousy, M/M, Petting zoo, So Many Kids, Support dog, adjusting to family life, now they all want a pet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:41:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26022097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetoaSai/pseuds/LetoaSai
Summary: With so many adoptions done in the last year, Leon and Cloud try to find an outing all the kids would enjoy at once.
Relationships: Cloud/Leon (Kingdom Hearts), Leon (Kingdom Hearts)/Squall Leonhart/Cloud Strife
Series: StrifeHart Fluff [47]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1108581
Comments: 37
Kudos: 73





	Well Adjusted

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

The downside to suddenly having a pet was that it opened a door that hadn’t been breached before. 

Reiku having a dog left all of the others with different proportions of jealousy. Sora, Roxas, and Xion were nearly frothing at the mouth for their own pet. Riku didn’t care much because Shadow spent so much time in his shared room. 

Ventus and Vanitas were thrilled just to have the dog in the house and pet him every chance they got. They’d never had a chance at a pet before. 

Shadow was a good dog though, and loved children. She was happy to have more children around who were thrilled to give her attention. She was however, still a support dog and knew her job well. She stuck close to Reiku who had shaky nerves a mile wide. 

The boy was eager for new things. He wanted to explore and meet people and go places but it always started out with an upset tummy and clinging to Riku’s hand. After so long in a hospital, rapid changes that could occur daily left him skittish. Shadow however with a good girl and rested her head on his lap. 

It had been a long discussion between Leon, Cloud, and Reiku about school. There was only one semester left and while they could have put him in school for those last few weeks, they didn’t want to put a stress on his recovery. 

So rather than attend school with the others, every day he went to work with Leon. Shadow accompanied them in his brightly colored support dog vest and sat at Reiku’s feet. Reiku sat at Leon’s desk and worked on his own school work while Leon taught his classes. 

The college students thought he was adorable and were all pleased to see their professor in more of a parental mode. Leon also had several colleagues that were delighted to see the little boy recovering so well after so many of them had gotten screened to see if they were a match to help him. 

As for Reiku, he’d been in awe of Leon standing in front of a room to give a lecture on whatever the topic of that class happened to be. The way the students could ask almost any history question, and Leon most likely had the answer had left Reiku thrilled. As far as he was concerned, Leon was like a sorcerer and he wanted to be that knowledgeable too. 

It didn’t however help the other kids feel special. They would have rather gone to work with Leon than to school too. They just didn’t have the excuse. 

Favoritism was something they desperately tried to avoid but there were always exceptions. The older twins understood best that every situation could be handled multiple ways but the other four children were put out at the lack of attention they were getting. Perhaps it was more Reiku getting more attention than them getting a lack of it. 

Every time one of them attempted to whine about it, Cloud would threaten to leave them home on the weekends when _he_ went to work. None of the younger kids wanted to miss out of their martial arts classes and were forced to realize they had something Reiku didn’t. 

It was hit or miss if Ventus wanted to go or not and recently he had instead stayed home with Reiku for a mix of meditations and video games. 

“This will either curb their appetite for animals or encourage it.” Leon muttered, seeing easily how this could go belly up. 

“Yeah.” Cloud yawned, tired. “Any little thing that will occupy them for a while is a good thing though.” 

Leon snorted. “Is parenthood just finding multiple ways to entertain your kids until they're old enough to entertain themselves?” 

“Yes.” Cloud said, no hesitation. “I mean there’s a lot of other stuff in there too but it’s mostly the ‘entertaining them’ thing...Otherwise our house would be in danger of breaking.” 

“Who has seven kids? What were we thinking?” 

“That we loved them on sight and knew we were screwed?” Cloud offered. 

Leon grunted. “Yeah, sounds right.” 

That morning they’d piled all the kids into two cars because they were _not_ getting some atrocious school bus of a family car. The only concession they really had to make was splitting up Ventus and Vanitas because they just scraped by on being big enough to sit in the front seat. 

They’d gone to an impromptu carnival where they’d had Yuffie and Reno meet them to help watch over the scores of children. They thought the kids would go after the rides and games and feel like they were getting a treat. Instead every single one of them ran towards the petting zoo. 

Reiku and Xion were delighted by the mini horses and Roxas was giggling next to Ventus as they held baby chicks. 

Riku and Vanitas sat in a corner with half a dozen bunnies and Sora had run to his parents to get a quarter to buy food to feed the goats. He and Yuffie laughed and laughed as the little animals searched Sora’s hands for more food. There were piglets and llamas and sheep and the kids made sure to pet each one. 

There were dozens of kids around but somehow they were able to pick out all seven of theirs easily.

“You know, instead of cats and dogs your kids are going to ask you for chickens and goats.” Reno commented, shoving his sunglasses on. 

“Not if they see chickens and goats other places.” Leon said, refusing to listen to the hard truth. 

Cloud snorted. “We’ll rely on an old favorite. No barn animals in our house.” 

Reno smirked, always enjoying a chance to poke fun at them. “God, you guys are aging before my eyes.” 

“Least we’re not dying the gray out of our hair.” Cloud prodded, amused when Reno bristled. 

“I am not!” 

Leon chuckled. “You two are the biggest kids here.” 

They expected the cries of the children to have their fathers join them but they were just delighted to play. If there was any surprise to be had at all it was Vanitas sliding up to the fence holding one of the bunny’s that seemed content in his arm. 

“Dad, look.” He wasn’t over excited, or begging for a pet. He was just a small boy that had been labeled aggressive, holding a small bunny like it was glass. “Look.” he repeated. 

“I see. You and Riku have been playing with the bunnies for a while, huh?” Leon leaned over to look and stroked his fingers down the little things back. 

“They’re soft.” Vanitas muttered. 

“Yes they are.” Leon agreed, delighted by the care Vanitas showed. Passed the occasional grumpiness he was a sweet boy. 

“Papa! Papa!” Xion ran towards them. Reiku kept up just behind her, holding onto Shadow’s leash. “They’re gonna do pony rides! Can we?!” 

Cloud just blinked. “Yeah, sure.” 

“Daddy, can we get a goat!?” Sora called.

“Yeah dad!” Yuffie teased. “Can we get a goat?” 

Leon sighed. “No, come ride the ponies.” 

“Ponies! Cool.” Yuffie laughed. “C’mon Sora!” 

Cloud checked his hip against Leon’s. “I guess i’ll go monitor that and make sure no one tries to sneak a pony or mini horse in the car.” Someone would also need to hold onto Shadow for Reiku.

“Do.” Squall agreed, not wanting to admit just yet that he was getting a headache. 

Cloud pressed a kiss to his temple, likely already figuring it out. “Roxas. Ventus.” Cloud called. “Pony ride?”

“No.” Roxas called. “Can i have quarters for food for the sheep?” 

Before either parent could respond Reno hopped the fence. “Yeah. C’mon little man. We’ll get you some. You two Ven.” He was already digging through his pockets and the boys seemed thrilled to be able to feed the animals more. 

“We’re going somewhere for a real lunch after this and not something on a stick.” Cloud laughed a little, following after three of his children and Yuffie. 

“You alright here?” Leon asked Vantias who still stood in front of him, petting his bunny. The bunnies were evidently exciting since Riku still sat in the grass with his.

“Yep.” Vanitas said, wandering back towards Riku. There were two other kids playing with the softly little creatures but that oddly didn’t seem to bother either of the quiet boys. 

Leon laughed softly and watched, this might blow up in his face later but at least the kids were having fun. 

Years before moving to Radiant Garden he never would have imagined this would be his life. Married with seven children. Most days it felt like the whole thing had happened over night. 

Outings like these however were good practice for the bigger family trips. Trips to Destiny Island went without saying but come autumn he’d been packing up his family for a week in Balamb Garden for his sisters wedding. 

He just might have to kill Irvine when he got there. 

“Dad, what’s your favorite animal here?” Riku asked, feeding the bunny in his lap. 

“My favorite?” Leon looked around. Animals weren’t exactly his forte. He was happy to look at them from afar and was already at his limit with Riku’s support dog. “All baby animals are cute i suppose.” 

Riku and Vanitas both hummed their agreement. “I like the bunnies best…” 

Riku wouldn’t ask outright the way Sora and Roxas would. He would be subtle, and when it was something he really wanted he’d play the long game. If he really wanted a bunny, it would be passively brought up over and over. 

“The bunnies are very nice.” Leon nodded, humoring them for now. 

“They are.” Vanitas muttered 

Leon checked his phone when he got several texts all in a row. They were all many pictures from Cloud of Sora, Xion, Reiku and Yuffie riding the ponies. Their grins were huge and they were waving at the camera. 

Should he end up caving, he’d have to seriously consider the bunnies. There was no way he was keeping a horse in the backyard…

**Author's Note:**

> Series Master List. In order. Mostly. 
> 
> Dreams Mended  
> Out of Order  
> A Winning Distraction (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> Quiet Midnight (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> Radiant Christmas (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> Successful Romance (in the middle of Out of Order)  
> First Dance  
> Until Monday  
> Repeat  
> Not enough treats  
> Wager  
> Calling Home (technically just before and just after Wager)  
> Renewals   
> Date Night  
> Sick Lions  
> Bad Memories  
> Not Perfect (could really fit in a few places, here is fine)  
> Patience  
> Long Weekends  
> Fever  
> Melee  
> Time will Tell  
> Rumble  
> Fortitude  
> A Day for Two  
> Summer Sun  
> Homemade  
> Moving on  
> Probably Haunted  
> The Night Before: by Kutikue  
> It’s only two more  
> Safeguard  
> Finding Sleep  
> Wishes  
> Lights out  
> Professional Aid  
> Hope: by Jokul_Nightfury_Frost  
> Match  
> Foresight  
> Surrounded by Kindness  
> Connected  
> Christmas Wisdom   
> On the Eve  
> Face Time  
> Errands   
> Facing Fears  
> Routine Interrupted   
> Well Adjusted


End file.
